Author 



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MICHIGAN 

AND HER GREAT 

HIGHWAYS 


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■■■■IBSHIEl 


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DEDICATED 

TO THE 

DIXIE HIGHWAY 



A Brief Sketch or the EarUest 

History of Michigan's Great 
Lake Region 

Now the Summer Land of the Middle West 



By 

MRS. JAMES T. FLAHERTY 



COPYRIGHTED 




JUL -8 1916 
^CI,A433648 



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Those who know the stories of the birth of "the great American peninsulas" 
of Michigan, love their rocks and glens, their shore-lines, their evergreen forests, 
lakes and dunes. But these great places of Michigan possess more than their 
natural beauty: "We love them for the dangers they have passed. " They 
are full of romance and tradition. They seem to contain the heroism and tragic 
lives of four great peoples — the Indians, the French, the English, the Amer- 
icans. If Nature could speak, we should find "books in the running brooks." 
Volumes would be told of the Mackinaw Region in particular, from the time 
when the Ojibwas and the Ottawas held undisputed sway until the coming 
of the explorers, the Jesuits, the fur traders and members of the French aris- 
tocracy who lived much in the manner of old France. For old Mackinaw 
was the social center of the great Northwest in the early days of exploration, 
and indeed until the removal of the Fort about 1776 to Mackinac Island. 

It is the hope of the writer of this booklet to make vivid some of the more 
interesting history of Michigan's shore-line and thereby add color and charm 
to the delights of a summer ramble or sojourn in the wilds of the Michigan 
Northland. Why take a cruise across the ocean to find beautiful and romantic 
locations, the sites of thrilling history, when a grand tour of our fresh-water 
seas will supply them, with their shore-line broken by evergreens, with their 
ozone-laden air, with their glorious sketches of pure white sand? 



"MITCHIE SAWGYAGAN" 

(THE LAKE COUNTRY) 

MICHIGAN AND HER GREAT 
HIGHWAYS 

The first point to attract the eye on looking at the map of the United 
States is Michigan, surrounded by her clear blue inland seas. Three great 
peninsulas, the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan, and the Canadian 
peninsula, press down upon the waters of the Great Lakes system, forming the 
Straits of Mackinaw, from seven to nine miles in width. Early writers com- 
pared these straits to the Straits of Gibralter and to the Bosphorus. Lake 
Michigan, the west boundary of Michigan, covers sixteen thousand nine hun- 
dred and eighty-one square miles. Lake Huron on the east has an area of seven 
thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight square miles. When the white man 
came, these great waterways were his only highways; they were the highways 
of the native Indians, who also penetrated the wilderness over "intricate silent 
trails". The combined length of these two lakes is six hundred and thirteen 
miles, and along their Michigan shores, like a ribbon of white, runs the Dixie 
Trail with "its roadside planting of trees," its two ends meeting at old Mackinaw. 

Every mile of Michigan's shore line is fraught with natural and historical 
interest. Starting at the Southwest boundary line of Michigan or at the crossing 
of the Lincoln Highway and the Dixie Trail at South Bend, Indiana, we are 
attracted by the sand-dunes with their solitary pines which stand as sentinels 
guarding our shores. They are noted by geologists. They are world-famed. 
Following along the east shore of Lake Michigan the only part of the St. Law- 
rence basin entirely within the limits of the United States — we reach the mouth 
of the St. Joseph River. Here we are reminded of the days when LaSalle es- 
tablished a fort in the wilderness in 1679. This fort and river he named Miami. 
A mission was also built about that time, which was visited by Pere Marquette, 
who found his instructor. Father Gabriel Drouillette, in charge. It was at 
this point that Rena' Robert Cavalier de La Salle, the great French explorer, 
started across the peninsula through the wilderness, following the St. Joseph 
River, to Niagara to see if he could find the Griffin, the first boat to sail the 
Great Lakes. It was here also, after returning grief-stricken at his loss of the 
Griffin, that LaSalle started with canoes to explore the Mississippi, "the great 
river of the west," from the point on the Mississippi where Marquette turned 
back, weary from his long journey of travail, Marquette having previously 
discovered the river. 



Today we find progressive cities and villages, fields ot waving grain, orchards 
and vineyards, a "Michigan fruit belt;" summer resorts, fine hotels and cot- 
tages along the route amongst the dunes. We wonder at just what points La- 
Salle planted a cross while on this voyage of discovery. LaSalle followed down 
the east shore of Lake Michigan, Marquette the west and returned up the east 
shore. It was near the City of Ludington that Marquette, exhausted, rested 
from his weary journeying, near the mouth of the Marquette river, named in 
his memory. Sometime later he was removed from this resting-place by his 
faithful Indians to his beloved St. Ignace. 

Still following along near the shore, we pass continuously beautiful inland 
lakes and rivers, whose shores are dotted with cities, villages, and summer 
colonies, through forests, around dunes, catching glimpses of islands, vista§ of 
beauty. We pass the "Sleeping Bear" sand-dune, four hundred and ninety feet 
above level. 

Out from "Sleeping Bear" Point and the "Little Finger" of Michigan, are 
the Manitou Islands the throne of "Gitchie Manitou, the mighty." The 
hills in this region have often been compared to the foot-hills of the east. 

We continue around Grand Traverse Bay, through one of the fruit belts, 
through Traverse City you simply have to tarry in the Traverse Bay regior 
to get its atmosphere; its history; the flavor of its fruits; its hospitality; its 
beauty ever-present— on to Torch Lake which lies almost parallel to Grand 
Traverse Bay. We next reach "Charlevoix the beautiful," named in honor 
of Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix, a historian and missionary who came 
from France in 1720. Out from this city are the Beaver Islands, "Isles di 
Castor," which are famous as the one time stronghold of "King" Strang and 
his Mormon followers. His life here was not peaceful, for he was harassed by 
inhabitants of the mainland, especially from old Mackinaw. His career ended 
in tragedy; his life taken by someone unknown. About these islands all kinds 
of piracy flourished. More than one vessel met a mysterious and tragic ending 
at the hands of buccaneers. These islands were mentioned by "Beloved Bishop 
Baraga," who was in charge of the Diocese at Harbor Springs for forty years, 
as "looking like mists rising from the sea." "An Indian in a canoe arrived, 
asked the good Bishop for help among the Indians of these islands." Thus a 
mission was established here, also one at Middle Village, one at Garden Island, 
and one at Grand Traverse in the Diocese of St. Marie de Sault and Marquette. 
Harbor Springs was the seat of this mission. 

From Charlevoix we pass on to Little Traverse Bay, "the American Bay 
or Naples." On a bluff facing the bay as though to guard its shores, is the 
city of Petoskey noted for her sulphur springs. Petoskey is the center, the 
hub of the resorts of this locality all being easily reached by suburban train, 
ferry cr motor. From Petoskey to Harbor Point, skirting the shore, a distance 
of about ei ''t miles, we pass through Rosedale, Bay View, Menonequa Beach, 
Roaring Brf,c!:, East and West Wequetonsing and Harbor Springs, each with 



Page Six 



its own special charms and attractions — summer cities, almost one continuous 
city, yet distinct. Harbor Point, which forms one of the most natural harbors 
in the world (the Harbor of Springs, Little Traverse Bay), dear at eight hun- 
dred dollars a comparatively few years ago, is now covered with club houses, 
hotels and summer palaces. (*) Beautiful Walloon Lake, Conway and Oden 
with their flowing wells, bathing and fishing, their hotels and clubs. Round 
Lake and the Hiawatha Play are all within Petoskey's environs, or within the 
wheel. If Nature has been lavish in the formation of her mines, rocks and 
lakes in this Northland region, she has also been lavish in the coloring of her 
flowers, the flavor of her fruits, her wonderful woods, her by-ways. 

The writer remembers the pathetic little cemetery in Harbor Springs, 
seen over forty years ago, enclosed with a broken fence, small wooden crosses 
with bright paper-flower wreaths at the head of the graves and in some cases 
a small American flag, and "Old" Margaret Boyd, an aged Indian woman, 
and the wooden pig she displayed with pride, as being the hobby-horse on whose 
back many a young brave had received his first lessons in horsemanship. A 
stubborn stiff-legged and balky steed it must have been. And again there were 
numerous springs, bubbling and boiling enclosed in cobble-stone curbs. The 
clear cold spring water now running through pipes is ever a joy around the Bay. 
Here, too, the writer saw an Indian Pow-pow with the musical tom-tom and 
war dance— done for the benefit of tourists, on the village green. These braves 
had gathered from the Northern Michigan tribes, as of old, to hold their con- 
clave here. 

From Petoskey to Cross Village, we follow the shore-line, the home of the 
Ottawas, the "L'Arba Croche" or Crooked Tree district. Here many conclaves 
or pow-pows were held and here occurred the massacre of "The Lost Tribe." 
"The stories of the Crooked Tree" by John C. Wright are filled with Indian 
romance, folk lore, traditions and legends of this locality. 

A memory picture of Cross Village and Indian Mission there, as seen from 
the deck of the steamer Van Raalte forty years ago, was framed with the 
forests of evergreen for a background and the blue waters of Lake Michigan 
in the foreground. A sandy approach from the shore-line, slightly elevated, 
a rather large rambling building, smoke-gray, with the figure of a saint over 
the main entrance. This building was erected in 1855 by Father Wycamp, 
about whom many stories of romance and mystery are told. With other build- 
ings in connection it was surrounded by a high crude fence, also gray and somber. 
Around the enclosure were fields of golden grain, gardens and a wealth of bril- 
liant poppies. A glimpse through a gate ajar disclosed two Indian nuns at the 
well, washing lettuce in a tub. On seeing us they ran like deer for cover. On 
entering the building we were led through corridors with sanded floors. A 
monk in brown with sandaled feet passed. Father Wycamp showed us the 
only "mirror" in the building, a skull, on a table made by himself. A system 



(*) See West Michigan Pike and Dixie Trail Year Book for details of trip. 



Page Seven 



of blinds was so arranged in the chapel that only the chancel could be seen 
from the seats behind; the occupants could not be seen. Of course, we were 
shown the tomb-to-be of the genial Father, dug by his own hands and covered 
by a pergola like a roof. 

Whether one travel by steamship, steam cars or motor, whether by the 
highways of the Lakes, railways or trails, the goal is the same— the Mackinaw 
Region. 

If by the Dixie Trail, you enter Old Mackinaw on the dividing line made by 
the Indians between the east and west portion of the State. The Chippewas 
or Ojibwas claimed the eastern portion; the Ottawas, the western. This imag- 
inary line is now our state road and leads to Michillimackinaw State Park and 
the Straits of Mackinaw. The ferries Algomah and Big Chief Wawatan, must 
be relied upon for safe transportation across the Straits if you wish to go 
farther north and explore the scenes of wealth and grandeur beyond, the cities, 
mines and virgin forests of the Upper Peninsula. Or, if you wish, you may 
continue the "loop" or "horseshoe" of the Dixie Trail by way of the East 
Michigan Pike along the shores of Lake Huron, past the river Ocqueoc with 
six cascades or falls, past the home of Chief Mudjekeewis and "Le Grand 
Sautuer," Minavavana, at the head of Thunder Bay, the great cities and 
beautifully located summer resorts of eastern Michigan, and on to Detroit. 
Or, if you wish you may continue the voyage by way of the Great Lakes which form 
the loop of Michigan. But here at Mackinaw, from this most northerly point 
of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, a veritable panorama passes before the 
eye— not a broad expanse of water alone, but a sky-line broken with islands 
and the long south shore of the Upper Peninsula, adding beauty to the scene. 
Just before one, rising out of the waters of the Huron, is beautiful Mackinac 
Island, its highest point reaching three hundred thirty-nine feet above the lake 
level. A little to the right is Round Island with its picturesque light-house and 
graceful evergreen slopes. Just a little farther down Lake Huron is Bois Blanc, 
another beautiful island, with community cottages and community hotel. To 
the left of Mackinac Island is Point Iroquois or St. Ignace in the Upper Penin- 
sula—antique St. Ignace with its history adding to the stories of the Mackinaw 
Region. Here Father James Marquette started his mission in 1671, thirty-two 
years after Jean Nicolet, the first white man to discover the Straits of Mackinaw^ 

A little further on to the left and north from our viewpoint, the eye passes 
Point La Barbe, Graham's Point and Gros Cap, a fisherman's village. Then 
the waters again forming the sky-line for a short distance and "dear little St. 
Helena Island" with its light-house comes into view. Just beyond this island 
as we face the west, we look into the head of Lake Michigan. McGulpin's 
Point reaches out from the mainland, forming a gateway which reminds one 
of the "Golden Gate" of California. The sun in all its gorgeous coloring sets 
in this gate-way, the water and sky reflecting every hue. From our viewpoint 
the sun is seen rising from the waters of the Huron and sets in the waters of 
Lake Michigan. It is truly "the land of the sky-blue waters," "the land of the 



Pag* Eight 



Ojibwas," "the land of the Da- 
kotas," "the land of Hiawatha." 

Then you realize you are 
standing on historic ground, in a 
state park of twenty-two acres, 
where the massacre of the English 
occurred in 1763. The silence 
here, the swishing of the waters 
or the boom of the waves, the 
sighing of the pines, these are the 
only sounds. One can imagine 
the savages as they skulked about 
silently in moccasins and feathers, 
and the deeds that were done 
here. (*) No wonder the Indians 
and half-breeds never enter these 
grounds after night, for even to 
this day, 'tis said, they see in the 
moonlight the terrible conflicts 
enacted over again and the spirits 
of those massacred. 

Sitting in the shelter of these 
old pines, centuries old, in the 
Michillimackinaw Park, the deep 
carpet of pine-needles under our 
feet, catching vistas through firs 
and balsams of "the shining Big 
Sea Waters, " with 'Shawandassee 
the fat and lazy southwind " 
bringing in the fresh lake air, the 
sun bringing the opposite shore- 
lines into close view, is there 
wonder that we have day dreams and visions of the past? Is there wonder 
that we meditate on the changes time has wrought? The events and dramas of 
the Straits pass in review. 

We see Jean Nicolet, the first white man to discover the straits, with his 
Indians in canoes, make the landing in the spring of 1639; and we see the Chinese 
vestments and mandarin, gifts which he has brought — for Nicolet expected to 
find a yellow race, a Chinese race, in this region. Marquette appears, the 
"black-robed " picturesque figure of history, coming across from Point Saint 
Ignace and "planting a cross here. " We see Marquette and Joliet with their 
guides and their fieet of canoes starting on their long journey of discovery from 
Saint Ignace, rounding Graham's Point and "the minarets " in their frail barks. 




ON THE WAY TO McGULPINS POINT 



(*) Alexander Henry's Letters of Description. 



Page Nine 



For these voyages the winds and waves must have been calmed. We ourselves 
can watch the battle of the winds on the Straits, all the sudden conflicts. "Waban, 
the East Wind, young and beautiful, he who brings the morning," "battling with 
Kabyun, the mighty West Wind," and "Kabinbonaka, the wild and cruel 
North Wind, driving all before him." Then comes the silence following the 
sudden storms of this region, and we realize the magnitude and heroism of 
such historic undertakings. 

We remember the monument at St. Ignace erected in memory of Marquette 
and the painting in the little church there, brought from France by Marquette 
in 1666. The subject is Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit Order, re- 
nouncing the gayeties of a soldier's life. We think of the "Cabane," the college 
and the mission chapel founded by Marquette about 1671 in the wilderness, 
and the many, many years that have passed. And the eye is attracted by the 
Island of Mache-ne-mock-e-nong, (Mackinac Island), the birth-place of Mich- 
abow, the Indian God of Waters. To the Indians the island was Pequadenong, 
a hill rising from the waters; and now upon the hill from "the tiny crescent- 
shaped bay" may be seen the "little fortress, snow-white and gleaming in the 
morning light," and ancient hotels and homes of pioneers among summer 
palaces and hotels, shops, parks and drives. This little fortress made a gallant 
defense in the war of 1812. The British Landing, Fort Holmes, the Rifle Ranges, 
and the Block-houses are also historic monuments of this war — and picturesque 
monuments, too, with their evergreen backgrounds and beds of daisies. 

We like to think with Mrs. Jamison, of Alexander Henry, the famous 
English fur trader about 1761, "as the Ulysses of these parts. And to cruise 
among the shores, rocks and islands of the Mackinaw region without 'Henry's 
Travels' were like coasting Calabria and Sicily without the Odyssey in your 
head or in your hand, only here you have the island of Mackinaw instead of 
Circe, the land of the Ottawas and Chippewas, instead of the shores of the 
Lotophagi, " "Chief Wa-wa-tam taking the part of Alcinous." (*) Many 
books of romance, folk-lore, tradition and history and description are to be 
found in the Island shops. The monuments in the parks should be visited and 
their stories read. Cass Cliff and the Nicolet Tablet, dedicated last summer, 
are the first of the two hundred to be dedicated and erected by the State His- 
torical Commissioners in honor of the pioneers of Michigan. 

Round Island and Bois Blanc arc so near Mackinac, we feel that they are 
part of it, and their history is also closely linked. It is a delight to take a trip 
across the Straits either in reality or in memory. The ferries may be seen making 
their regular daily trips to Mackinac Island, St. Ignace and the Upper Penin- 
sula. Another trip may be from Mackinac to Les Cheneaux Islands, (the 
"Snows ") with all their surprises, their beauties of shore lines, clubs and unique 
summer places. Still another may be taken — a day's trip — to St. Marie du 
Sault (the "Soo") or through the tortuous channels of Green Bay, with every- 
thing provided for one's comfort, passing quaint towns and villages as well as 
modern summer resorts nestled here and there. One is reminded at every 

(*) Mrs. Jamison's "Winter Travels and Summer Rambles." 



turn of the pioneers who blazed the way into these fastnesses — the charm of 
it all enhanced by the dangers they knew not, yet knew. 

In contrast to the great locks and the modern city of the Soo, one sees 
still the Indian shooting the rapids of St. Mary's River as of old. The point 
where the pioneers entered our territory was the place where the Aborigines 
mostly congregated for the sake of the fishing at the Soo, and the memory 
leaps back to the "Pageant of Luson. " In 1671 "Dumont de Saint Luson was 
made Agent of Louis the XIV of France and took possession of the Interior 
in his name. " A commanding site on an eminence overlooking the St. Mary's 
River in the "forest primeval, " was selected. The cross was raised with all 
the ceremonies and rights of the church. A cedar pole was erected beside the 
cross on which was nailed a metal plate engraved with the "Lillies of France." 
"The authority and faith of France was uplifted in the very heart of our country." 

Father D'Ablon, the Superior of the Mission of the Lakes, and Gabriel 
Drouillette, a veteran missionary, physician and linguist, were among the 
priests at this picturesque ceremony; and among the brilliantly clad officers 
from veteran armies of France were tribes of Crees, Sioux and Dakotas. It was 
indeed a "congress of nations " at the Falls of St. Mary. 

A mission was established at this point about 1641 ; a chapel and stockade 
were built; land was cleared and crops were raised by the servants of the mission. 
But the little settlement was short-lived. It was too much disturbed by the 
raids of the hostile savages. Later, Father D'Ablon, AUouez and Marquette 
established a mission here which was more successful. The missionaries, voy- 
agers, and traders following down the St. Mary's River — canoes their only 
means of travel — also established a mission on the Manitoulins (St. Joseph's 
Island), and from there went on down to the Straits of Mackinaw and Green 
Bay Missions and from St. Marie de Sault to the Superior Missions. 




CANOEING TODAY ON STRAITS OF MACKINAW 



Page Eleven 



Peter Radison, one of the first great explorers of this region, was led to 
the "copper country" in the Upper Peninsula by Indian guides. The copper 
outcrop there at Keweenaw Point has since been found to be the purest in the 
world. He described the Pictured Rocks, fantastic in form and color, 250 feet 
in height as follows: "The striking object like a great portell, a shippe of 
500 tons could pass through, sae big is the arch." Since his name was Peter, 
he called it "St. Peter's Portell." This arch has since crumbled away, but the 
rocks which he described are still there in all their wonder and beauty. "In 
time they came to a cape and rocks very much elevated like pyramids" he 
continued "In a certain channel they took sturgeons of vast bigness and 
pycks of seven foot long." He told of the little camp in the wilderness and of 
the winter they passed there. His defense was a rope fastened from bush to 
bush with small bells attached. The long severe winter resulted in famine, 
starvation and pestilence among the Indians, for the game migrated South, 
even to the grouse, and there was no fishing. From Radison's letters and from 
Schoolcraft's writings can be traced much of the data of Longfellow's "Hia- 
watha." Radison also tells legends of the Sioux, Crees and other tribes. 

Benjamin Franklin drew a line through Lake Superior to include the best 
and largest copper supply within American possessions, having had access 
to the journals and charts of French Engineers; and when he was drawing up 
the treaty of Peace with England, after the revolution, he said: "The time 
will come when drawing that line will be considered the greatest service I ever 
rendered my country." And Lake Superior is only fifty miles away, as the 
crow flies, from the Straits and from our point of reverie or meditation. 

We are reminded of two Indian villages and a fur-trader's camp here 
(at Old Mackinaw) separated only from each other by crude palisades, and all 
living in peace, ninety-two years before the massacre of the English in 1763. 
Robert, Cavalier de La Salle arrived with the Griffin August 28th, 1679, 
and proceeded in state to hear mass at the little chapel established by Father 
Marquette at this point. We can see in fancy the Griffin freighted with 
her valuable cargo of peltry from the Green Bay region, starting from here on 
her voyage of mystery, never to return, her destiny only to be conjectured. 
Whether the crew mutinied for the cargo, or whether the ship was overtaken 
by a band of Indians or by a great storm, her fate is unknown. 

It was from the deck of the Griffin, as reported by LaSalle, her builder, 
on her trip from Buffalo to Mackinaw, that there was seen "a species of wild 
cattle called Buffalo, whose wool was better than that of any sheep in France. 
Flocks of turkeys and swan circled about. Herds of deer were often seen.' 
LaSalle prophesied an "inconceivable commerce " on these seas, and said that 
their shores would be lined with the shops and dwellings of the whites. 

Father Hennepin (a Franciscan missionary and one of LaSalle's 'memorable 
explorers) urged LaSalle to make a settlement on "this charming strait, " but 
to explore was his great passion. Hennepin said, "those who shall be so happy 



Twelv 



as to inhabit that noble country cannot but remember with gratitude those 
who discovered the way by venturing to sail upon unknown lakes. " 

We think of great fleets of fifty or more canoes, heavily laden with otter, 
mink, beaver, and martin skins, paddled by Indians in their paint and feathers, 
or by coureurs de bois in blanket-coats, leathern-moccasins, andleggins, scarlet 
sashes and caps, who were no less picturesque. Parents would arrive in canoes, 
from distant points, with their babes to be baptized by the resident priest. 
Father Du Jaunay. Here were French Canadian houses with red roofs and 
high picket fences all painted white, thirty or more houses and a little church 
within the Fort, enclosed within a palisade of cedar. 

This settlement was due to Marquette and a party of Hurons in 1671, 
but a mission was established here in 1712, eight years before LaSalle's arrival. 
It was the first European settlement made northwest of Fort Frontenac on 
Lake Ontario. Chevalier Tonti — an Italian explorer — Father Hennepin, 
Charlevoix and other early French writers, when they speak of Michillimack- 
inaw, allude to the old or lower Peninsula Fort. Schoolcraft speaks of Old 
Mackinaw as "the ancient town" and the Island as "the modern town." 

The decisive battle of General Wolf and the gallant Montcalm sealed the 
doom of France in the new world. The final surrender took place in 1760, 
with all the forts and trading-posts around the Great Lakes. We see the "lillies 
of France" taken down and "the lion" in its place, the red-coated English 
soldiers taking possession and the Royal Standard floating in the breeze at 
Mackinaw. The Indians, looking on, hated the English, for they had loved their 
"Little Father," the French King. 

Minavavana, the chief of the Ojibwas — from Thunder Bay — who led the 
Indian horde at Mackinaw in the Pontiac uprising, made his famous speech 
to the English which is in part as follows: "Englishmen, it is to you 
I speak and I demand attention — The King of France has promised to be 
our Father, and we are his children. Our father has fallen asleep. During his 
sleep you have taken advantage. His nap is almost at an end, I think I hear 
him inquiring for his children, the Indians, and when he does awake what will 
become of you? He will destroy you utterly." * 

Charlevoix visited Old Mackinaw in 1721, forty-two years before the 
massacre. In his letters we find that there was a "Middling Village" on the 
site of the present village. "It was the home of the missionary, the trader, 
the soldier." It was the center of society, the center of the fur-trader's activ- 
ities. ** "A fur-trader of wealth and station arrived with a large family and 
with both negro and Indian slaves. His daughter subsequently married Charles 
Langlade — born and wed within the palisades of the fort" — and later the 
founder of Wisconsin. "A large wedding; no doubt the social event of the 
season, and the prettiest gowns to be obtained from Montreal probably graced 

(*) Francis Parkman. 

(**) From "Glimpses of Old Mackinaw" by permission of Frances Margaret Fox. 



Page Thirteen 



the occa^oa. Here the families of the old Fort celebrated May -day after the 
m a nne r of Old France, they danced and sang, hunted, fished, feasted and made 
merrv'. went canoeing in summer, sped over the ice in carioles in winter, and 
wait sugar making in the spring. Merchants of Quebec and Montreal who 
visited here in the summers pro-vided themselves and families with luxuries 
for their wardrobes and tables." Men accustomed to the best that Europe 
could offer, men who were personally known to the crowned heads cf Europe — 
their envoys — once lived in Old Mackinaw. Their children were sent to Nlont- 
real and Quebec to be educated. 




XATHTES — WEEPwZ SA>rDS Vv tlrCE LEVELED 

The massacre took piace the fourth day of June, one nundred and fift>'- 
three years ago, in the midst of the sunshine, the blue waters, the evergreen 
trees the sandy beach, "that had been leveled' to make their safety more 
secure. The little settlement in gala attire to celebrate the birthday of King 
George the Third — alone — in the wilderness. When we think of the rest of 
Michigan, in fact nearly all of this vast countrj-' a wilderness, then only can 
we realize their fortitude- 
Then came the gathering oi "ne tribes from all surrounding sbores; there 
were two hundred canoes, with Ottawas from the L Arbre Croche district: the 
squaws, one by one were skulking into the fort area, with knives, tomahawks, 
and guns — cut off short — hidden under their blankets. The game of baggati- 
way or lacrosse was being played by the Indians, supposed to be part cf the 
celebration. The Royal Standard of Great Britain floating from the ram- 



ravLrt££3t. 



parts, two brass English cannon were on the bastions; the garrison was free from 
restraint, they had drunk the King's health and were in high spirits, not knowing 
of the consipracy of Pontiac, the great Indian leader, and not dreaming that the 
morning of the last twig in the bundle given to each chief, had arrived. Each chief 
had been bidden to take one twig from a bundle each morning at sunrise ; on 
the morning of the last twig, the Indians were to strike for freedom. We think 
of the surprise and all that followed. At a given signal the ball was thrown 
over the Palisade, the Indians rushed in. We think of the few English left, 
of Alexander Henry — named "Musinigon" by Wawatam, and the Pani Indian 
Maiden hiding him behind sap troughs in the home of M. Langlade, a French- 
man. It was the English only whom the Indians hated. They had robbed 
the "Little Father' and the Indians of their domain. We think of Wawatam — 
chief of the Ojibwas — through friendship saving Henry from his frantic foes. 
A storm followed; there were great difficulties for Wawatam and Henry in cross- 
ing the Straits to Skull Cave on Mackinac Island and brief safety. 

* "If Wawatam would taste 'the white man's milk' — rum — with his tribe, 
he finds a place of safety for his friend." 

The fort and buildings, the little Jesuit church, the block-house and the 
French Canadian houses, were left standing. The families remained. The 
following year British troops returned and the Royal Standard of St. George 
again floated from the ramparts. About 1776 the Fort, the block-house and 
church were moved across the Straits, on the ice and erected on Mackinac 
Island. 




GLIMPSES OF STRAITS WITH OLD FORT MACKINAW IN DISTANCE 



(*) "A week on Concord" by Thoreau. 

Page Fifteen 



In 1857, eighty-one years later, came the company from Cincinnati. Their 
dream for this romantic spot, was that it would be "A Metropolis," a "Venice 
of the Lakes," a "Key Point to the Great Lakes System." They laid out the 
prospective city with locations for mill and factory, broad streets and a boule- 
vard following the shore-line and extending the length of the Straits from 
Huron to Michigan. They gave to the people forever certain lots surrounding 
the Fort area of two acres the nucleus for our State Park and increased its 
acreage twenty acres. Today we see a cement walk following the shore 
line and the Michillimackinaw Boulevard, from the railroad and ferry dock 
to McGulpin's Point, a distance of four miles. 

Until lately these shores were in much their primitive state. The resort 
of Wawatam Beach, in Old Mackinaw, recently established on these historic 
shores, is prophetic of a city of summer homes, with the ozone-laden air, but 
not of mill and factory. In this old Park still in the state of Nature we 
find mmgled with the evergreen trees and vines, ancient apple trees, goose- 
berry and English currant bushes, a garden of wild roses, daises and bluebells, 
reflecting the colors of the American flag which is now floating here, let us 
hope forever and in peace. The Indians, French, English and Americans have 
all held their dominions here. 

As we stand on the heights of McGulpin's Point and look from the aband - 
oned lighthouse through the tree tops, out over the straits, over Lakes Huron 
and Michigan, we feel with Masefield in his 

"SEA FEVER" 

"I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, 

To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's, like a whetted knife; 

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow rover. 

And quiet sleep, and a sweet dream when the long trick's over. 

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, 

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by; 
And the wheel's kick and wind's song, and the white sail's shaking. 

And a gray mist on the sea's face and a gray dawn breakmg. 

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide. 
Is a wild call and a clear call, that may not be denied; 

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying. 

And the flung spray, and the blown spume and the seagull's crying." 

In the name of Louis the Great, King of France and Navarre, on the 
ninth of April, sixteen hundred and eighty-two, Cavalier La Salle planted a 
cross at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and "took possession of the river 
with all the rivers which fall into it and all the countries which belong to them. " 
While shouts of "Vive le roi" floated out over the Gulf of Mexico. 

LaSalle in a canoe, traveled from "The Straits to the Gulf." Now we 
can travel by motor, over the "Dixie Trail " "From the Gulf to the Straits." 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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